Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg

Volume 64 Issue 2

Issue of Review of Economics

Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available February 11, 2016

Do Smaller Governments Raise the Level or Growth of Output? A Review of Recent Evidence

Norman Gemmell, Joey Au

Page range: 85-116

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Abstract

Theoretical developments, improved methodologies and more extensive data have helped generate a dramatic increase in the literature testing for the impact of government size and fiscal policy on economic growth in recent years. We review a range of the more recent evidence and examine (1) the consistency or robustness of the results; (2) how these results differ from the earlier literature and (3) their usefulness as a guide to policy reform in practice. We find that the last decade has produced more robust evidence and more plausible orders of magnitude on the impact of fiscal policy on growth. However, the value of this evidence remains limited as a basis for quantifying macro-economic responses to fiscal policy reform in practice.

February 11, 2016

Corporate Balance Sheet Adjustment: Stylized Facts, Causes and Consequences

Eric Ruscher, Guntram B. Wolff

Page range: 117-138

Abstract

Using national account data, we define corporate balance sheet adjustment episodes as periods during which major increases in non-financial corporations’ net lending/ borrowing are experienced. An analysis of such episodes in Germany and Japan, and a more systematic exploration of a sample of 30 countries, show that corporate balance sheet adjustment tends to be long lasting and associated with significant effects on current accounts, wages and investment. Adjustment episodes lead to significant changes in corporate balance sheets ratios with a build-up of liquidity and a reduction of leverage. The adjustment is generally achieved by reducing investment and increasing savings on the back of a falling wage share. A panel econometric exercise shows that balance sheet adjustment periods are triggered by macroeconomic downturns as well as balance sheet stress due to high debt, low liquidity and negative equity price shocks.

February 11, 2016

The Effects of Terrorist Activities on Foreign Direct Investment: Nonlinear Evidence from Turkey

Tolga Omay, Bahar Araz-Takay, Ayşegül Eruygur, Ilker Kiliç

Page range: 139-158

Abstract

In this study, we examine the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and terrorist incidents that took place in Turkey during the period 1991:12 to 2003:12. By doing so we contribute to the literature by allowing for a possible nonlinear relationship between terrorism and FDI. The data used to measure the intensity of terrorism were collected from a major newspaper of Turkey, and therefore is limited to the direct signals given to the market. Empirical evidence from both linear and non-linear models confirms that terrorism has a large negative impact on foreign direct investment. As far as the results of the nonlinear model estimation are concerned, the impact of terrorism on FDI is estimated to be more severe during periods of high terrorism where the intensity of terrorism passes a certain threshold level. This threshold level can be interpreted as a warning ‘signal’ that FDI may decrease severely and thereby can be used by policy makers to design effective policy measures and by potential investors as an indicator of a country’s risk profile

February 11, 2016

Opening Clauses in Collective Bargaining Agreements: More Flexibility to Save Jobs?

Tobias Brändle, Wolf Dieter Heinbach

Page range: 159-192

Abstract

This paper analyses the impact of opening clauses in German collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) on job flows. Opening clauses should provide firms with more flexibility in economic crises. Therefore, firms operating under a CBA with opening clauses are expected to have lower job turnover, in particular lower job destruction under bad business conditions, and - if job creation is not adversely affected - higher job growth. We analyse this question empirically using data from the IAB Establishment Panel, a large and representative data set on German establishments. We supplement the data with additional information on the existence of opening clauses in CBAs in the West German manufacturing sector (using the IAW Data Set on Opening Clauses). By means of a matching approach, we address selection problems in flexible CBAs and reveal that the existence of opening clauses has a positive, albeit not always significant, effect on job growth. In contrast, there are no significant effects on job destruction and job creation per se, and, based on information given in the IAB Establishment Panel itself, explicit knowledge of opening clauses or their application have no additional effect on job flows.

About this journal

Welcome! As of 2016 the Review of Economics as well as all other journals of Lucius and Lucius Verlagsgesellschaft are published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg.

Aims and Scope
The Review of Economics (Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftswissenschaften) is a peer-reviewed general interest journal and publishes articles from all fields of economics.
Only articles with a strong policy focus are considered for publication. The Review of Economics will consider papers that are based on (i) a well defined theoretical model (ii) an empirical analysis or (iii) an experimental or (iv) an evidence-based framework.
The Review of Economics is also highly interested in survey articles on important policy issues.
Since the Review of Economics intends to deliver a forum for policy contributions and to influence the public debate we guarantee a quick and efficient referee process (the initial publication decision will be made within a maximum of 90 days). The editors may decide to publish papers without a referee process whenever authors send their submissions together with the referee reports and the decision letter of the previous submission and explain how they reacted to the reports. Accepted articles will be pre-published on the internet page of the journal as soon as they are accepted. Because the Review of Economics is not an e-Journal all articles also appear in a regular print version with some delay.

Partner Journal
Czech Journal of Economics and Finance

The Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (ISSN 0015-1920) is an English-language, double-blind refereed academic journal published in Prague since 1951. It devotes special attention to monetary economics, public finance, financial economics, and international economics, but it is open to high-quality papers from all fields of modern economics. The editors prefer empirically oriented papers, but do not exclude review articles or theoretical contributions provided that they are of high quality and relevant to the journal's aims.